Editing Soapstone (section)

=== Americas ===
[[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] have used soapstone since the Late Archaic period. During the [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic archaeological period]] (8000–1000 BC), bowls, cooking slabs, and other objects were made from soapstone.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kenneth E. Sassaman |title=Early Pottery in the Southeast: Tradition and Innovation in Cooking Technology |date=1993-03-30 |publisher=University Alabama Press |isbn=978-0-8173-0670-0}}</ref> The use of soapstone cooking vessels during this period has been attributed to the rock's thermal qualities; compared to clay or metal containers, soapstone retains heat more effectively.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Frink |first1=Liam |last2=Glazer |first2=Dashiell |last3=Harry |first3=Karen G. |date=October 2012 |title=Canadian Arctic Soapstone Cooking Technology |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2190/NA.33.4.c |journal=North American Archaeologist |language=en |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=429–449 |doi=10.2190/NA.33.4.c |issn=0197-6931}}</ref> Use of soapstone in native American cultures continue to the modern day. Later, other cultures carved soapstone [[Smoking pipe (tobacco)|smoking pipe]]s, a practice that continues today. The soapstone's low heat conduction allows for prolonged smoking without the pipe heating up uncomfortably.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Witthoft |first=J.G. |year=1949 |title=Stone pipes of the historic Cherokees |journal=Southern Indian Studies |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=43–62}}</ref>

[[File:Mythological figures by Kayasark, Inuit, Pelly Bay, Canada, steatite, HAA.JPG|thumb|Mythological figures carved in soapstone by Kayasark, Inuit carver, held in the [[Honolulu Academy of Arts]]]]

[[Indigenous peoples of the Arctic]] have traditionally used soapstone for carvings of both practical objects and art. The [[qulliq]], a type of oil lamp, is carved out of soapstone and used by the [[Inuit]] and [[Dorset culture|Dorset]] peoples.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Erwin |first=John C. |date=2016 |title=A Large-Scale Systematic Study of Dorset and Groswater Soapstone Vessel Fragments from Newfoundland and Labrador |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26891240 |journal=Arctic |volume=69 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.14430/arctic4592 |jstor=26891240 |issn=0004-0843}}</ref> The soapstone oil lamps indicate these people had easy access to oils derived from marine mammals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civilization.ca - Life and Art of an Ancient Arctic People - The Dorset People |url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/archeo/paleoesq/ped01eng.html |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=www.historymuseum.ca}}</ref>

In the modern period, soapstone is commonly used for carvings in [[Inuit art]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nuttall |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Swr9BTI_2FEC&dq=%22inuit+art%22+soapstone+common&pg=PA162 |title=Encyclopedia of the Arctic |date=2005-09-23 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-78680-8 |language=en}}</ref>

In the United States, locally quarried soapstone was used for gravemarkers in 19th century northeast [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], around [[Dahlonega, Georgia|Dahlonega]], and [[Cleveland, Georgia|Cleveland]] as simple field stone and "slot and tab" tombs.

In Canada, soapstone was quarried in the Arctic regions like the western part of the Ungava Bay and the Appalachian Mountain System from Newfoundland.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=The application of trace element geochemistry to determine the provenance of soapstone vessels from Dorset Palaeoeskimo sites in western Newfoundland |url=https://research.library.mun.ca/7028/ |publisher=Memorial University of Newfoundland |date=2003 |degree=masters |language=en |first=Cynthia Marie |last=O'Driscoll}}</ref>